1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an arrangement for controlling highly automated driving of a vehicle, in particular autonomous driving of a vehicle. The invention relates, furthermore, to a vehicle for highly automated driving.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the case of highly automated driving, a vehicle guiding device can take over automated guiding of the vehicle. In a sense, the vehicle guiding device takes over the functions of an autopilot. The driver himself does not participate in the process of guiding the vehicle during a time in which the vehicle is controlled autonomously by the vehicle guiding device. The driver does not have to control the vehicle himself during the time in which the vehicle guiding device for guiding the vehicle is activated.
However, during highly automated driving, situations can arise in which the vehicle guiding device must transfer control of the vehicle back to the driver. The reason for transferring guiding of the vehicle back to the driver can be as a result of the vehicle itself, for example in the case of a technical failure of a system crucial for the intended function of the vehicle guiding device. Furthermore, unexpected driving situations, obstacles or viewing obstructions can occur in the surroundings of the vehicle that make it impossible for the vehicle guiding device to safely guide the vehicle. Another cause of problems can be that a communication to other vehicles, or to service centers that support the vehicle guiding device, is only functioning inadequately.
A certain time is necessary for the transfer of control of the vehicle to the driver. This time is a reaction time Ti, which the driver requires in order, for example, to reach the necessary attentiveness or to recognize the driving situation so that he can safely take over the vehicle.
The vehicle guiding device is technically elaborate and must function in a failure-free and guaranteed accident-free manner during the reaction time Ti of the driver. In particular, the vehicle guiding device must function reliably from detecting a problematic situation at an instant t to an instant t+Ti at which the driver has safely taken over the vehicle. In order to avoid serious accidents, the reaction time Ti must be dimensioned such that any driver can safely take over the vehicle under any common circumstances. The greater the reaction time Ti, the greater the technical complexity and the system costs.
Without knowledge about the condition of the driver and the driving situation, the reaction time Ti can only be assumed to be a maximum time Tmax that corresponds to a worst-case configuration of the vehicle guiding device. However, such a configuration of an arrangement for highly automated driving leads to the highest technical expense and high costs. In the case of such a system configuration, the vehicle guiding device must often prematurely give up control to the driver, even if it could still guide the vehicle for a relatively long time, owing to the assumed high reaction time of the driver. This leads to the driver having to intervene in the control of the vehicle or being requested by the vehicle guiding device to take over the control of the vehicle, even in relatively uncritical situations in which the vehicle guiding device itself could still control the vehicle for a relatively long time.